This book is a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of Community-Based Art Education (CBAE). CBAE encourages learners to make connections between their art education in a classroom setting and its application in the community beyond school, with demonstrable examples of how the arts impact responsible citizenship. Written by and for visual art educators, this resource offers guidance on how to thoughtfully and successfully execute CBAE in the pre-K–12 classroom and with adult learners, taking a broad view towards intergenerational art learning. Chapters include vignettes, exemplars of practice, curriculum examples that incorporate the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, and research frameworks for developing, implementing, and assessing CBAE projects. “This is the book I have been waiting for—carefully researched, thought-provoking, and inspiring.” —Lily Yeh, Barefoot Artists Inc. “A practical guide for community-based art education that is theoretically grounded in social justice. Insightful suggestions for working with communities, planning, creating transformative learning, and evaluating outcomes are based in the authors’ deep experience. This book is a timely and welcome volume that will be indispensable to individuals and community organizations working in the arts for positive change.” —Elizabeth Garber, professor emeritus, University of Arizona

This extensive Handbook addresses a range of contemporary issues related to arts education across the world. It is divided into six sections; Contextualising Arts Education, Globally and Locally; Arts Education, Curriculum, Policy and Schooling; Arts Education Across the Life Span; Arts Education for Social Justice: Indigenous and Community Practice; Health, Wellbeing and Arts Education and Arts-Based and Research-Informed Arts Education. The Handbook explores global debates within education in the areas of dance, drama, music, media and visual arts. Presenting wide-ranging research from pedagogies of adaptation developed in Uganda to ethnomusicology in Malaysia and community participatory arts to wellbeing in Canada the Handbook highlights the universal need for arts education and in particular the importance of indigenous (including both traditional and contemporary practice) arts education. With contributions from internationally renowned scholars and practitioners and building on the World Alliance for Arts Education Global Summit in 2014, the Handbook creates an essential resource for arts education practices in and out of school alongside institutional, traditional and contemporary contexts. Students, teachers and practitioners across the arts disciplines will find the text invaluable for developing further opportunities to promote and study arts education.

Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being, alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different countries across the WHO European Region and further afield. This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan. The reviewed evidence included study designs such as uncontrolled pilot studies, case studies, small-scale cross-sectional surveys, nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, community-wide ethnographies and randomized controlled trials from diverse disciplines. The beneficial impact of the arts could be furthered through acknowledging and acting on the growing evidence base; promoting arts engagement at the individual, local and national levels; and supporting cross-sectoral collaboration.

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.

This edited collection offers global perspectives on the transverse, boundary-blurring possibilities of community arts education. Invoking ‘transversality’ as an overarching theoretical framework and a methodological structure, 55 contributors – community professionals, scholars, artists, educators and activists from sixteen countries – offer studies and practical cases exploring the complexities of community arts education at all levels. Such complexities include challenges created by globalizing phenomena such as the COVID-19 pandemic; ongoing efforts to achieve justice for Indigenous peoples; continuing movement of immigrants and refugees; growing recognition of issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace; and the increasing impact of grassroot movements and organizations. Chapters are grouped into four thematic clusters – Connections, Practices, Spaces and Relations – that map these and other intersecting assemblages of transversality. Thinking transversally about community art education not only shifts our understanding of knowledge from a passive construct to an active component of social life but redefines art education as a distinctive practice emerging from the complex relationships that form community.

This volume explores art as a means of engendering youth civic engagement and draws on research conducted with young people in the United States to develop a unique curriculum model for civically engaged art education (CEAE). Combining concepts from civics and arts education, chapters posit that artistic thinking, making, and acting form the basis for creative research into social and political issues which affect young people and are key to promoting civic participation. Focusing on critical, creative, and dynamic forms of youth cultural production inspired by local people, places, and events, the text demonstrates how educators’ curricular choices can engage students in researching social movements and arts-based activism. The authors draw from well-established areas such as arts-based research, civic engagement, and maker-centered learning to present their educational model through illustrative examples. Offering a timely consideration of the relationship between art education and civics education, this book will appeal to scholars and students of the sociology of education, as well as arts and teacher research, and pre-service teacher education.

These stories from art educators highlight how art and visual culture can bridge learning with lived experience. Written by and for art educators from all backgrounds and contexts, this volume offers guidance for expanding students’ opportunities to critically examine current events, histories, and cultural assumptions in ways that are relevant and inclusive of all identities. Readers will learn how to use contemporary art and dialogue as tools to acknowledge and value the unique perspectives of each person. Authors from diverse settings offer topics, insights, resources, and research for centering voices and critical conversations in K–12, higher education, museums, and nontraditional classrooms. The book addresses such questions as: How can a teacher reflect on their own assumptions and biases before crafting lessons and discussion prompts?In what ways can contemporary art encourage dialogue in art learning spaces?What happens when current national issues intersect with the personal lives of students?How can teachers democratize the classroom so all students are represented?How can teachers demonstrate ways to critically examine information? Book Features: Offers insights from art educators in public, independent, museum, and community settings.Addresses the role of art teachers in responding to the current highly politicized educational climate.Critically examines concepts of practice, power, and vulnerability in teaching. Discusses issues of race, LGBTQ+ rights, family structures, current events, democratic values, and social change as they concern students.Provides examples of dialogue in various art learning spaces and contexts. Contributors include JaeHan Bae, Kathy J. Brown, Lauren Cross, William Estrada, Pamela Harris Lawton, Amy Pfeiler-Wunder, Natasha S. Reid, Kryssi Staikidis, and Injeong Yoon-Ramirez.